Belmonte: Ouster plot against him ‘doomed’

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has confirmed that there are efforts to oust him as House Speaker but that he remains confident that they will dissipate sooner than later.

The plot–allegedly hatched by members of the Liberal Party who support the bid for President of the LP’s presumptive bet and Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd—surfaced after Belmonte heaped praises on survey leader, Sen. Grace Poe, as a viable candidate for the highest post in the 2016 elections.

Belmonte made the confirmation on the day that the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), a member of the administration alliance, ruled out any ouster plots against the Speaker.

“I have heard of it, but I’m sure it won’t prosper,” LP vice chairman, said in a text message.

Belmonte’s confidence seemed not unfounded in that there are at least 113 members of the ruling LP in the House of Representatives and the NPC has the second-largest contingent in the chamber with 41.

In addition, he was instrumental in bringing a huge chunk of former Lakas members to join the ruling LP prior to the 2010 polls, thus ensuring that the House of Representatives will be dominated by President Benigno Aquino 3rd’s allies.

The party stands solidly behind the Speaker. Any move to unseat him will be counter-productive because we are going into our last session. All this political talk [stems from]the October filing [of certificates of candidacy], but there’s a lot of governance to be done,” NPC oresident Giorgidi Aggabao told reporters.

Aggabao cited a pending proposal for the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region and the proposed P3 -rillion national budget for 2016 that will be submitted to Congress by the President.

“The NPC remains to be part of the coalition and will remain to be as such until the President’s term [ends]. We believe in his reform agenda and the NPC will be a reliable partner,” NPC spokesman Rex Gatchalian, also mayor of Valenzuela City (Metro Manila), said.